Charging-hopper.



' (1. M.- s TAIT.

' 01111111111111 HOPPER. APPLIOATION FILED JAN. 11. 1910.

Patented May 16, 1911..

g Wit EV UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

commit m. s. rm, or. monrcnnm, nnwanasn nssmnoa 'ro rnrrrnonucnn.

- w consumer miwxonx, N. Y., A CORPORATION or miw'annsnr.

it may (inflame-norms.

. .Be itknown that l, Gonrnny M. S. TArr, a subject of the KingQof England, and a resi-,

jzdent of Montclain' in the county of Essex and. State',of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements. in

Charging-Hoppers, .of which the following is a'full, clear, and exact specification, such as will enable. others skilled in the art thereofjon the line2-2 to,which it'appertainsto make and use the same. a My inventio'n'relates to a charging hopper, especially designed for use in connection with gas producers, but applicable to '15 other similar structures.

Aside from the primary objects of construetingthe hopper so thatit will be durable, easy and. satisfactory in operation, the principal bbjectofthe invention is to render the hopper'gas-tight at alltimes and to insure, by automatic, devices, that it will not l e-accidentally opened in'such a way as to were an opening from the interior of the producer into the atmosphere. I-attain this end by certain'jpeculiar devices for mounting the dumping bell at the base of the hopper and by a certain lock device which coacts with the lid at the top of the hopper in such a manner that it automatically locks the. dumping bell at the base as soon as the lidis open. In this way when. the lid is opened to fill the hopper I insure that the dumping bell discharging into the producer cannot be opened, although Whenthe lidis closed the dumping bell maybe freely operated to discharge fuelinto ithe producer.

My'invention involves various other features of importance, all of which will be fully set forth hereinafter and particularly pointed out in the claims.

For the purpose of an illustration of a specific form of the invention, the accompany-i'ng drawings represent, as an example, the preferred manner of practically embodyingthe same.

a side. view of the hopper with the dump-, ingbell in open position; Fig. 2 a section of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 a section showing the lid open and the dumping bell closed; Fig. 4 is an exterior view of;

In these drawings :'-Figure 1 represents i v Specification of Iietterslatent. Patented May'16, 1911. v Application filed lanuary ll, 1910. Serial 110i 537,383. i I

the hopper, the line of vision being at right angles-to thatof Fig. 1; and Fig. 5 is a plan vlew of. the hopper with the lid partly open.

10 lndicates the body of the hopper, which may be and preferably is provided with a tapering bottom. portion 10 having a dis: charge opening'lO and a base flange 10, by which last-named part the hopper may be fastened on the head of the producer or other apparatus in connection with which 1t is used.

11 indicates the dumping bell, which is of the usual tapering form and provided with a lug 12, to which a link or links 14 are articulated, and by which the bell is sustained.-

is sustained either in the closed position,

shown in Fig. 3, or it may be dropped down to. the lOYF-(id position, shown in Fig. 2. Inthe first position the tapering walls of the bell engage the walls of the opening 10 closing the hopper; and .in the second position the bell is dropped away from said walls and allows the contents of the hopper, or any part thereof, to be charged into the producer. The rock-shaft 16 has its ends fitted revolubly, yet snugly, in the side walls of the box 17, so that a. practically gas-tight joint is effected at this point. One end of the rock-shaft 16 is slotted, as indicated at 16, for the purpose of the locking devices,

and will be hereinafter described. -The otherend .has fast thereon anarm 18, carrying af counter-weight 19, whereby the bell 11 is 9 normally held in closed position, By lifting the arm '18 inward and upward, however,

the bell may be lowered, as shown in Figs. 1 I

and 2, and the contents. of the. hopper, or-

any part thereof, charged into the -'p roduc e'r. I 20 indicates the lid of-the hopper, which is in the form of a circular plate and has.

at one end a lug 21 mounted by a vertical pin 22 on a corresponding lug 23 at the up,- per part of the hopper 10 at the side there of. In this manner the lid mayzbe moved in a horizontal. plane to opened or closed position. v Extending .-diametrically across the upper side of the 'lid fromthe lug 21 is.

end of which is confined within certain limits by a bridge 26. The bridge 26 is of inverted U-form and fastened in inverted position on the lid 20. At about the middle of the lock-arm 25 isa screw or other means 27 for adjusting the tension of the lockarm. when the lid is closed the free end of the arm 25 lies under a keeper 28 formed on or fastened to the side of the hopper 10 diametrically opposite the lug 23. The spring arm 25 engages this keeper and in so engaging it holds the lid in place. To move the lid the spring arm should be first depressed, thus freelng the lid'.

The lock device includes a lever 29, which is fulcrumed outside of the hopper on a pin 30, said lever being so disposed that it may swing by gravity to perpendicular position from the inclined position shown in Fig. 1,

in which perpendicular position it enters the slot 16 of the rock shaft 16 and locks said shaft with its connections against'movement. The slot 1 6. in said shaft 16 is so disposed that. the lock lever will not enter the slot except when the discharging bell 11 is closed. Hence when the lock lever enters the slot 16 it insures holdin the charging bell closed. The upper end 0 the lock lever pro-.-

ject-s to a position alongside of the keeper 28 and when the lid is closed a lug 20 thereon engages on the upper arm of the lever locking lever, and moves the arm to inactive positlon, holding it there until the lid is opened. The instant the lid moves to open position'thenpper end of the locklever is disengaged and the lever is allowed to fall by gravity into engagement with the walls of the slot 16 of the shaft 16.

By these very simple, yet automatic devices, I insure absolute safety and reliability in the operation of the charging hopper, and prevent any possible leakage of gas or ingress of air into the producer by reason of thecharging thereof. The instant the lid is opened the dumping bell 11 is'locked and cannot .be opened until the lid is completely closed.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is:

1'. A charging hopper having a discharging means at lower part of the hopper, a swinging arm connected therewith, a rockshaft on which the arm is carried, a box on the hopper and having the rook-shaft mountedtherein, one end of the rock-shaft projectingibeyond the box and means connected with said end of the rock-shaft to actuate it,"1the second end of the rock-shaft also projecting beyond the box, a locking means coacting with the second end of the rockin shaft to preventmo ion of the same and o its connected parts and a lid at the top of the hopper controlling said locking means.

2. A charging hopper having a discharging means, a normally active-lock therefor and a closure for the hopper having a part to engage the lock and hold it inactive while the closure is shut, whereby when the closure is opened the lock moves into action.-

3. A charging hopper having a discharging means at the lower part thereof, a swinging arm connected therewith, a rock shaft on which said arm is carried,a pivoted member adapted to engage with said rock shaft for preventing the rotation of the latter, a cover for the upper end of said hopper and adapted to engage with said locking member to swin the latter to inoperative position as said cover is moved to closed position.

4. A charging hopper having a vertically movable discharge means at the lower part thereof, a horizontally movable cover at the upper end thereof and a locking member pivoted at the side of said hopper and having one end serving when in operative positlon to lock said discharging means in closed position and having the opposite end controlled by, the movement of said cover, whereby the locking member is moved into inoperative position upon the closing of the cover.

5. A charging hopper having a rock shaft extending through a side wall thereof, a discharging means at the lower portion of said hopper and connected to said rock shaft, a locking member pivotally secured to the outer side of said hopper and adapted to engage with. the outer end of said rock shaft for locking the discharging means in closed position and a closure for the upper end of said hopper independent of said locking member and adapted to engage with the latter to move said locking member into inoperative. position upon the closing of said closure.

6. A charging hopper having a discharging means at the lower part thereof, a rock shaft, connections between said discharging means and said rock shaft for operating the former upon the rocking of the latter, a movable member adaptedto engage with said rock shaft to prevent the. rocking of the latter, and a cover for the-upper end of said hopper and adapted to engage with said locking'member to move the latter to inoperative position as said cover is moved to closed position.

7. A charging hopper having a discharging means at the lower part thereof, a rock shaft extending through the wall .of said hopper and having a portion within the hopper and a portion outside thereof, con

nections between said inner portion of the,

rock shaft and said discharging means, a

movable locking member for engaging with the outer portion f said rock shaft, and a cover for the upper'end of said hopper adapted to engage with said locking member to move the latter to inoperative. position as said cover is moved to closed p0- sition. w

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

GODFREY M. TAIT. Witnesses G. NERO. 

